What kind of challenges face educators who embrace technologies which are not broadly adopted? Are those challenges different for ILS adoption?
In response to the above question, I will discuss the issues and challenges that are faced by educators in adopting Second Life as an educational technology. Second Life and virtual worlds present interesting possibilities for educators. Virtual worlds allow students to participate in immersive learning experiences that would be impossible in the physical world (Pfeil, Ang & Zaphiris, 2009). Virtual worlds also provide opportunities for active participation of students through learning by doing (Kluge & Riley, 2008). Virtual worlds provide methods for students to demonstrate higher level knowledge skills from Bloom’s taxonomy such as applying, analyzing, evaluating and creating (Cheal, 2007). However, along with great potential Second Life also presents unique challenges and barriers. The challenges and barriers include a negative image of Second Life, challenges in accessibility because of technical requirements, the financial and time costs associated with use, usability and functionality issues, and social concerns of content, behaviors and identity as well as unresolved legal issues. Acceptance. While Second Life and other virtual worlds are growing in their use, there is not universal acceptance about their effectiveness as an educational tool. Some forms of online learning media may be more effectively delivered using other technologies (Inman, Wright & Hartman, 2010). There is a perception that Second Life is primarily a way for adults to explore their sexual identity (Foster, 2007). An educator attempting to adopt Second Life may be faced with addressing the image and negative bias regarding Second Life.
Accessibility. Ensuring adequate computing resources to implement Second Life requires an investment in technology. Participation in virtual worlds requires robust hardware and a broad band Internet connection (Warburton, 2009). Virtual worlds also make little effort to meet standards for accessibility of individuals with visual and hearing impairments (Kluge & Riley, 2008). This creates challenges in ensuring access for all learners.
Cost. While there are free memberships, for an institution to create a restricted, permanent presence it must purchase an island and pay monthly fees (Kluge & Riley, 2008). In addition there are fees for uploading educational content, such as images (Cheal, 2007). The overall fee structure and start-up costs can be prohibitive for organizations who have not yet sold the concept of using virtual worlds (Kluge & Riley, 2008). It may be difficult for an educator to explain and gain acceptance for online token economies such as lindens in traditional organizational structures.
Functionality. Second Life and most virtual worlds were not designed as Learning Management Systems and lack many features that educators take for granted such as grade books, assignment boxes, discussion tools, online surveys and objective assessment. An educator attempting to implement Second Life needs to be creative in identifying ways to overcome these challenges. Sloodle is a Open Source project to develop tools to support education in virtual worlds. This may involve the use of other applications or tools. For example, Sloodle integrates Second Life with the Moodle learning-management system and provides capabilities for collecting assignments and administering quizzes (Kluger & Riley, 2008).
Usability. The high learning curve required for Second Life is often cited as a significant barrier (Sanchez, 2007). Some educators have left Second Life because of technical frustrations because they cannot easily move around, communicate or find regions that are populated with avatars (Foster, 2007). Students from less technical disciplines find navigating in Second Life to be overwhelming (Kluge & Riley, 2008). Faculty not only have to learn how to use the technology, but also determine how to apply and how to provide support and guidance to students who experience problems (Pfeil, Ang & Zaphiris, 2009).
Time. Related to the concerns about the difficulty in navigating and using the interface, the amount of time required to use Second Life is often cited as a barrier to use (Sanchez, 2007). Design and running teaching activities requires time to address object permissions and accessibility issues (Warburton, 2009). The development time for courses in Second Life is greatly than the time required for other classes (Kluge & Riley, 2008). Educators may find themselves questioning if the time spent in developing course content in Second Life could be better utilized with other aspects of teaching and instructional development.
Content. The distractions present in virtual worlds also can engross students in areas that are not aligned with course learning objectives. The wide open structure of Second Life doesn’t provide clear learning goals and structure in other types of games or online learning (Inman, Wright & Hartman, 2010). Students may find Second Life to be boring in comparison to other types of games (Sanchez, 2007). Some educators are cautious of promoting Second Life to their students because some areas have sexually oriented content (Foster, 2007).
Behaviors. One of the challenges in the Second Life is the behavior of other users. Some Second Life residents will seek out places where others are gathered and display nude images or offensive language. These behaviors are referred to as “griefing” and present a challenge to organizations seeking to establish a presence in Second Life (Carnevale, 2007). Educators must be prepared to address these challenges as part of Second Life adoption.
Identity. Second Life provides users with great latitude in customizing their avatar. While this provides some unique opportunities, it also creates challenges in forming social connections among learners and educators (Warburton, 2009). It may complicate learning situations when students and faculty are not able to recognize each other ((Pfeil, Ang & Zaphiris, 2009).
Legal Issues. There are many unresolved legal issues related to virtual acts of violence, assault and harassment (Kluge & Riley, 2008). Ohio University experienced a problem when a user entered a building on the Ohio University’s island and began shooting other visitors with a virtual gun. Ohio University had to shut down its island until the virtual gunman was halted (Carnevale, 2007). Among the legal issues is the potential liability if faculty members require students to participate in Second Life or other virtual worlds and the students become subjected to harassment (Bugeja, 2007).
It is important to remember that all emerging educational technologies present challenges and barriers. Second Life and other Immersive Learning Simulations present their unique set of challenges. The Internet faced many of the acceptance issues now encountered by virtual worlds, and overcome those to be important force in society (Kluge & Riley, 2008). To address some of the issues associated with content and behavior in Second Life, some educational institutions are exploring new platforms such as Open Cobalt and OpenSimulator (Foster, 2007). These environments provide institutions with a greater level of control but also require additional technical support for implementation. Other types of virtual worlds are growing in acceptance, especially among youth. Club Pengiun is popular virtual world for children with 12 million registered users (Kluge & Riley, 2008). Future generations will overcome the acceptance and usability barriers and advancing computer technology will resolve many of the technical challenges related to accessibility and functionality. The benefits and possibilities of immersive learning environments will be motivation for educators and educational institutions to overcome the inherent challenges.
References
Bugeja, M. (2007). Second Thoughts About Second Life. Chronicle of Higher Education, 54(3), C2-C4.
Carnevale, D. (2007). Colleges Find They Must Police Online Worlds. Chronicle of Higher Education, 53(45), A22-24.
Cheal, C. (2007). Second Life: hype or hyperlearning?. On the Horizon, 15(4), 204-210.
Foster, A. (2007). Second Life: Second Thoughts and Doubts. Chronicle of Higher Education, 54(4), A25.
Kluge, S., & Riley, L. (2008). Teaching in Virtual Worlds: Opportunities and Challenges. Issues in Informing Science & Information Technology, 5, 127-135.
Inman, C., Wright, V.H., & Hartman, J.A. (2010). Use of Second Life in K-12 and higher education: A review of research. Journal of Interactive Online Learning, 9(1), 1541-4914.
Pfeil, U., Ang, C.S., & Zaphiris, P. (2009). Issues and challenges of teaching and learning in 3D virtual worlds: real life case studies. Educational Media International, 46(3), 223-238.
Sanchez, J. (2009). Barriers to Student Learning in Second Life. Library Technology Reports, 45(2), 29-34.
Warburton, S. (2009). Second Life in higher education: Assessing the potential for and the barriers to deploying virtual worlds in learning and teaching. British Journal of Educational Technology, 40(3), 414-426.
What kind of challenges face educators who embrace technologies which are not broadly adopted? Are those challenges different for ILS adoption?
In response to the above question, I will discuss the issues and challenges that are faced by educators in adopting Second Life as an educational technology. Second Life and virtual worlds present interesting possibilities for educators. Virtual worlds allow students to participate in immersive learning experiences that would be impossible in the physical world (Pfeil, Ang & Zaphiris, 2009). Virtual worlds also provide opportunities for active participation of students through learning by doing (Kluge & Riley, 2008). Virtual worlds provide methods for students to demonstrate higher level knowledge skills from Bloom’s taxonomy such as applying, analyzing, evaluating and creating (Cheal, 2007). However, along with great potential Second Life also presents unique challenges and barriers. The challenges and barriers include a negative image of Second Life, challenges in accessibility because of technical requirements, the financial and time costs associated with use, usability and functionality issues, and social concerns of content, behaviors and identity as well as unresolved legal issues.Acceptance. While Second Life and other virtual worlds are growing in their use, there is not universal acceptance about their effectiveness as an educational tool. Some forms of online learning media may be more effectively delivered using other technologies (Inman, Wright & Hartman, 2010). There is a perception that Second Life is primarily a way for adults to explore their sexual identity (Foster, 2007). An educator attempting to adopt Second Life may be faced with addressing the image and negative bias regarding Second Life.
Accessibility. Ensuring adequate computing resources to implement Second Life requires an investment in technology. Participation in virtual worlds requires robust hardware and a broad band Internet connection (Warburton, 2009). Virtual worlds also make little effort to meet standards for accessibility of individuals with visual and hearing impairments (Kluge & Riley, 2008). This creates challenges in ensuring access for all learners.
Cost. While there are free memberships, for an institution to create a restricted, permanent presence it must purchase an island and pay monthly fees (Kluge & Riley, 2008). In addition there are fees for uploading educational content, such as images (Cheal, 2007). The overall fee structure and start-up costs can be prohibitive for organizations who have not yet sold the concept of using virtual worlds (Kluge & Riley, 2008). It may be difficult for an educator to explain and gain acceptance for online token economies such as lindens in traditional organizational structures.
Functionality. Second Life and most virtual worlds were not designed as Learning Management Systems and lack many features that educators take for granted such as grade books, assignment boxes, discussion tools, online surveys and objective assessment. An educator attempting to implement Second Life needs to be creative in identifying ways to overcome these challenges. Sloodle is a Open Source project to develop tools to support education in virtual worlds. This may involve the use of other applications or tools. For example, Sloodle integrates Second Life with the Moodle learning-management system and provides capabilities for collecting assignments and administering quizzes (Kluger & Riley, 2008).
Usability. The high learning curve required for Second Life is often cited as a significant barrier (Sanchez, 2007). Some educators have left Second Life because of technical frustrations because they cannot easily move around, communicate or find regions that are populated with avatars (Foster, 2007). Students from less technical disciplines find navigating in Second Life to be overwhelming (Kluge & Riley, 2008). Faculty not only have to learn how to use the technology, but also determine how to apply and how to provide support and guidance to students who experience problems (Pfeil, Ang & Zaphiris, 2009).
Time. Related to the concerns about the difficulty in navigating and using the interface, the amount of time required to use Second Life is often cited as a barrier to use (Sanchez, 2007). Design and running teaching activities requires time to address object permissions and accessibility issues (Warburton, 2009). The development time for courses in Second Life is greatly than the time required for other classes (Kluge & Riley, 2008). Educators may find themselves questioning if the time spent in developing course content in Second Life could be better utilized with other aspects of teaching and instructional development.
Content. The distractions present in virtual worlds also can engross students in areas that are not aligned with course learning objectives. The wide open structure of Second Life doesn’t provide clear learning goals and structure in other types of games or online learning (Inman, Wright & Hartman, 2010). Students may find Second Life to be boring in comparison to other types of games (Sanchez, 2007). Some educators are cautious of promoting Second Life to their students because some areas have sexually oriented content (Foster, 2007).
Behaviors. One of the challenges in the Second Life is the behavior of other users. Some Second Life residents will seek out places where others are gathered and display nude images or offensive language. These behaviors are referred to as “griefing” and present a challenge to organizations seeking to establish a presence in Second Life (Carnevale, 2007). Educators must be prepared to address these challenges as part of Second Life adoption.
Identity. Second Life provides users with great latitude in customizing their avatar. While this provides some unique opportunities, it also creates challenges in forming social connections among learners and educators (Warburton, 2009). It may complicate learning situations when students and faculty are not able to recognize each other ((Pfeil, Ang & Zaphiris, 2009).
Legal Issues. There are many unresolved legal issues related to virtual acts of violence, assault and harassment (Kluge & Riley, 2008). Ohio University experienced a problem when a user entered a building on the Ohio University’s island and began shooting other visitors with a virtual gun. Ohio University had to shut down its island until the virtual gunman was halted (Carnevale, 2007). Among the legal issues is the potential liability if faculty members require students to participate in Second Life or other virtual worlds and the students become subjected to harassment (Bugeja, 2007).
It is important to remember that all emerging educational technologies present challenges and barriers. Second Life and other Immersive Learning Simulations present their unique set of challenges. The Internet faced many of the acceptance issues now encountered by virtual worlds, and overcome those to be important force in society (Kluge & Riley, 2008). To address some of the issues associated with content and behavior in Second Life, some educational institutions are exploring new platforms such as Open Cobalt and OpenSimulator (Foster, 2007). These environments provide institutions with a greater level of control but also require additional technical support for implementation. Other types of virtual worlds are growing in acceptance, especially among youth. Club Pengiun is popular virtual world for children with 12 million registered users (Kluge & Riley, 2008). Future generations will overcome the acceptance and usability barriers and advancing computer technology will resolve many of the technical challenges related to accessibility and functionality. The benefits and possibilities of immersive learning environments will be motivation for educators and educational institutions to overcome the inherent challenges.
References
Bugeja, M. (2007). Second Thoughts About Second Life. Chronicle of Higher Education, 54(3), C2-C4.
Carnevale, D. (2007). Colleges Find They Must Police Online Worlds. Chronicle of Higher Education, 53(45), A22-24.
Cheal, C. (2007). Second Life: hype or hyperlearning?. On the Horizon, 15(4), 204-210.
Foster, A. (2007). Second Life: Second Thoughts and Doubts. Chronicle of Higher Education, 54(4), A25.
Kluge, S., & Riley, L. (2008). Teaching in Virtual Worlds: Opportunities and Challenges. Issues in Informing Science & Information Technology, 5, 127-135.
Inman, C., Wright, V.H., & Hartman, J.A. (2010). Use of Second Life in K-12 and higher education: A review of research. Journal of Interactive Online Learning, 9(1), 1541-4914.
Pfeil, U., Ang, C.S., & Zaphiris, P. (2009). Issues and challenges of teaching and learning in 3D virtual worlds: real life case studies. Educational Media International, 46(3), 223-238.
Sanchez, J. (2009). Barriers to Student Learning in Second Life. Library Technology Reports, 45(2), 29-34.
Warburton, S. (2009). Second Life in higher education: Assessing the potential for and the barriers to deploying virtual worlds in learning and teaching. British Journal of Educational Technology, 40(3), 414-426.